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Oscha Slings New Bairn Review

Aug 3, 2024

3 min read

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What is the Bairn?

Oscha's new style Bairn is a buckle carrier available on a made to order basis. It is recommended as being suitable from newborn (7lbs) to around 2 years (45lbs). It is an apron style carrier with padded shoulder straps. It offers front facing in with cross or 'h' style straps, hip carry or back carry positions.


Testing:

I have tested this with my 20 month old and 4 year old. The 20 month old is in age 12-18month clothes and the 4 year old is in 18-24 months and some 2-3.




Front carry with cross straps

Newborn - with the demo doll I had some panel width I could have still adjusted to make it smaller, and I could have moved the waistband higher still for a shorter panel length (or rolled it). Unlike a lot of brands, I believe this could be a good option for new babies.


Child 1 (age 20 months) again, I really liked this and found it incredibly comfortable. There wasn't a lot of space left on the cinch when I tried it and to be fair, I probably could have let it out completely. Panel height was still great and we both seemed to be comfortable.

Child 2 (aged 4, but tiny!) I was comfortable and the panel height was good on her. However, the width put the panel at mid thigh, which is fine for a walking child, but she did complain about it being a bit diggy! Technically the carrier still fits her. However, it's not particularly comfortable for her.


Front carry with H or Ruck Straps

With both children I had the same issue here - I couldn't really get it where it felt secure and comfortable, even with both straps completely done up it felt loose in the wrong places. However, this is an issue I often have with H strap carriers and where a perfect fit adjuster would have been an excellent addition. That said, it is a great option for those who prefer H straps, and being able to cater to both styles means that everyone should be able to find a comfortable option. I also really like the fact the buckle can be removed, so it's not in the way when using it in the cross strap position, but do wonder how long it'll be before they're lost.


Front carry overall assessment

This is a lovely carrier for front carries, it's comfortable and I think it's a great option for children fitting into up to around 18month bottoms. Personally I feel the H strap option is less secure, but being quite petite I've only ever found one carrier comfortable with H straps, so that's likely more of a me issue than an carrier issue! I really like the option to have either type of straps in a front carry and know that there will be many for whom the H strap option is preferred.



Back Carry


I didn't try this with the newborn doll as back carrying isn't recommended that young. With the girls I found that it was very comfortable on the shoulders with the padded straps and the buckle made for a more comfortable option than some carriers that have a completely separate chest strap. However, again the concept of perfect fit adjusters here would have been lovely to see - maybe there will be a v.3 that includes them? I found that no matter how I played with the straps there was some digging by the ribs. It feels like the padded part is just a little bit too long on a more petite frame to get a comfortable fit.




Overall assessment

This is a lovely carrier that comes in a lots of beautiful patterns and I would recommend it. However, I don't feel it would be as long lived as Oscha suggest, with the average child being too big for the width of the panel to be comfortable by the time they move into age 18-24 month clothes.


It shines as a front carrier that appears to truly adjust down easily for newborns without any complicated faffing and will grow with your child until they are likely to be walking.


This is available to hire in the library if you would like to try before you buy and if you would like to buy don't forget I have a discount code for you!